Storm leads to new finds in Portland

Traffic plows through high water as it merges onto Interstate 5 in Portland, Ore., Monday, Nov. 19, 2012. A powerful storm pounded the Oregon Coast during Register Travel Editor Gary A. Warner's trip. The weather forced changes to his itinerary that turned up new places in a familiar city. DON RYAN, AP

I don't remember Noah being invited to that first Thanksgiving with the Pilgrims, but his ark was probably the only way I was going to be able to stick to my travel itinerary during the holiday.

My plan: Monday, fly to Portland. Tuesday and Wednesday, drive the Oregon coast. Thursday back in Portland. Friday and Saturday in Astoria. Sunday back again to Portland, and Monday fly home just after dawn.

I had already factored some rain into my vacation plan. I'm not blind to meteorological maps that show the coastal areas of Oregon as "marine" climate, which roughly translated means "rains a lot." Oregon in November is not a "sun and fun" trip.

It was a deluge, mixed with ferocious winds, downed trees, blocked highways, jammed freeways and flooded neighborhoods. You know you are up against something big when the local weather leads the national television network newscasts

My first impulse was, like many travelers, to try to muscle through the problem. Maybe the forecast would be wrong. Maybe it wouldn't be that bad. I wanted to show my daughter the orange and purple starfish at Haystack Rock on Cannon Beach. Luckily, what's left of the rational portion of my brain took hold. I was up against several hours of driving along winding roads to wind-blasted towns shuttered against torrential rain.

I had to call an audible. Trade country for city. I would hunker down in Portland.

What to do? When you can't go to a new place, dig deep into a familiar one. Though I have been coming to Portland for more than 30 years, I got out a city map and looked for a spot I hadn't explored. I settled on the Northwest of the city above the Pearl District, the area between 21st and 23rd avenues called Nob Hill.

It was the best decision I have made all year.

Though the rain was of epic proportions, Portland is a city that deals regularly with months of gray and wet. I usually stay downtown, but this time I checked into the "Jetsons"-like Inn @ Northrup Station, an old motor inn turned boutique hotel. It's part of a renaissance in the area that has boutiques sprouting amid streets lined with maples, aspens and other trees in full-blown fall foliage. I walked when I could and, when the skies opened up, took a hop-skip-jump approach with my rental car. Portlanders are a bit sick of the rain already, but as a Southern Californian, I found all the wet refreshing after a long summer of smog and heat. The clean, crisp air felt good in my lungs and on my face. I had a chance to wear the fleece jacket and old rain hat I love and have little use for back home.

There were plenty of coffeehouses in the area and farther downtown, which I visited on my forays to Powell's Books, which for me is the best bookstore in America. When I was too tired or too wet, I would plop into a coffeehouse for an hour or so to refuel. There was Stumptown, World Cup, Public Domain, Anna Banana and other anti-Starbucks spots. For the price of a double espresso, I could hang out as long as I wanted. I realized I had barely scratched the caffeine culture when, in the middle of my stay, the alternative newspaper Willamette Week came out with a list of more than a dozen new coffee spots.

At night, I popped a little popcorn and watched the news reports showing miles of backed-up cars on I-5. There was also a report of an 80-year-old barn blown to bits and hurled across a highway by hurricane-level gusts. I was cozy and warm, waiting for the storm to pass late in the week before heading out to Astoria (where winds on the bridge across the Columbia River had been clocked at 100 mph during the height of the storm).

I'm glad I didn't fight nature, but surrendered. The starfish will be there next time I go to the coast. And now I have about a dozen new favorite spots in Portland to take friends on future trips.

Traffic plows through high water as it merges onto Interstate 5 in Portland, Ore., Monday, Nov. 19, 2012. A powerful storm pounded the Oregon Coast during Register Travel Editor Gary A. Warner's trip. The weather forced changes to his itinerary that turned up new places in a familiar city. DON RYAN, AP
High winds whip surf and spray at Boiler Bay State Scenic Viewpoint, north of Depot Bay, Oregon during the week of Thanksgiving. The storm caused river flooding, road closures, power outages and at least one death. BRENT WOJAHN, AP
A pedestrian shields himself from heavy rain and wind while walking in Salem, Oregon on the Monday before Thanksgiving. DANIELLE PETERSON, SALEM STATESMAN-JOURNAL/AP

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